


Christmas at the lab

by stjarna



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: AU, Christmas, F/M, FitzSimmons Secret Santa, Fluff, Friends to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22269619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjarna/pseuds/stjarna
Summary: Prompt: Fitz and Simmons are best friends who are in love but won’t admit it and have to (or choose to?) spend Christmas together (if this is too specific for someone then I just want Fitz and Simmons in love some way hahaha)A belated FitzSimmons Secret Santa gift for @ellsey
Relationships: Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons
Comments: 12
Kudos: 60
Collections: Fluffy and Funny Fics by stjarna





	Christmas at the lab

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ellsey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellsey/gifts).



> Big thank you to @dilkirani for the beta

Fitz paused when he caught a glimpse of Jemma through the glass window of the door to the lab. She was wearing some sort of glimmery hairband with a halo dangling atop her head. As if she weren’t angelic enough on any given day. He sighed, figuring she probably brought some sort of festive decoration for him as well. The miniature tree she had brought in the day before was still standing next to their computer screen. He had complained loudly and grumpily about it—as he usually did—though he secretly loved that she wanted to spruce up the place, especially considering they had to spend most of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at the lab due to an experiment that was taking way longer than predicted, yet was too sensitive to go unsupervised. They had split shifts with Nathanson and Kopack, but it didn’t change the fact that they—as the primary researchers for the project— would be stuck at the lab for God knows how long on Christmas Day. He‘d been grumpy about it, yet—though he’d never find the courage to tell her—he’d spend Christmas with her anywhere—or any other day of his life for that matter. It wasn’t easy being in love with your best friend, but he cherished any opportunity he got to spend time in her presence, and he’d rather have a lifetime of friendship with her than not have her in his life at all. He sighed, grabbing the strap of his backpack more tightly and pushing the door to the lab open.

Jemma turned around, her lips pulling into a wide smile that made Fitz’s heart swell with warmth. “Hey there, Mr. Grinch,” she teased. “You made it.”

“Of course. Bus was late, that’s all,” Fitz replied, wishing immediately that his tone wasn’t quite so rude.

Jemma scrunched her nose in the most adorable way. “Yes, I suppose the time table won’t be the most reliable today. I’m so sorry that the experiment is taking so long, and you have to be here today. It’s entirely contradictory to our initial predictions.”

One corner of Fitz’s mouth ticked up into an apologetic smile as he placed his backpack on the floor. “Well, it’s not your fault, and it’s our experiment, so we’ll see it through together. I mean, luckily I wasn’t planning on going home for Christmas this year anyways since my mum decided to go on that trip with her friends from the sewing club.”

“Oh, is she having a good time? Did you send her the book?” Jemma inquired excitedly.

“The one on the history of sewing that you recommended? Yes, I sent it. She opened it before she left on her trip. She loved it. I have a hunch she knew exactly who picked it out though. I’m not usually one for thoughtful gifts,” Fitz replied, his gaze falling to the floor as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Nonsense,” Jemma countered, smiling widely, “I always like your gifts.”

“Right,” Fitz mumbled, somehow unable to better his mood. “By the way, what’s that thing on your head?”

“Oh,” Jemma reached for the halo atop her head, “I thought a bit more festive decoration couldn’t hurt, considering this is Christmas Day and we’re stuck here. I have a selection for you as well.”

“Oh goody,” Fitz muttered under his breath, watching as Jemma pulled out a few items from a bag on her chair.

“You have a choice of—” She raised each item in the air, “—festive Christmas tie, reindeer antlers, adorable elf hat, Santa hat.”

Fitz grimaced, raising one eyebrow skeptically. “How about none of the above?”

Jemma pursed her lips. “Oh, please, Fitz, just a smidge of festive flair.”

Fitz sighed deeply, reaching for the reindeer antlers and putting them on his head. “Fine. At least no one is here to see me.”

As if the universe had heard him and decided to punish him for his naivete, the door to the lab opened and Mack, one of the security guards, poked his head in. “What are you two doing here?” he asked, wrinkling his eyebrows. “It’s Christmas.”

“Mack, happy holidays,” Jemma said cheerfully, before gesturing with one hand at their work bench. “We are running a very sensitive experiment that, unfortunately, has decided to go against all our computer simulations and take considerably longer than anticipated. It’s vital that we’re here when it finishes. You drew the holiday shift as well, I take it?”

“Yes, Davis and I did,” Mack replied, bobbing his head in acknowledgement. “Well, if you need anything, we’re doing our rounds now, but either Davis or I will be down at the desk later.”

“Thank you,” Jemma smiled widely. “Happy patrolling.”

Once Mack had closed the door behind himself again, Jemma turned to face Fitz, who’d kept quiet during Mack’s brief visit, trying not to let his skin tone match the red bow attached to his reindeer antler headband.

“Should we do presents now, or later?” Jemma asked with impatient excitement.

“Umm—” Fitz mumbled, but before he could come up with a reply, Jemma turned on her heels, opening one of the drawers of the workbench and retrieving a meticulously wrapped gift, extending it with exuberant joy in Fitz’s direction.

“Oh, let’s do it now!” she exclaimed.

Fitz couldn’t help the small smile that played on his lips as he accepted Jemma’s gift. “You didn’t have to get me anything,” he muttered grumpily without really meaning to.

“You always say that,” Jemma replied teasingly.

“And I always mean it.”

“And I always ignore it,” Jemma had the last word, “because I  _ want _ to give you a present.”

Fitz scoffed. “Fine.”

He turned around to get Jemma’s gift from his backpack. Half-embarrassed, he handed her the envelope.

“You first,” Jemma insisted.

Fitz was about to protest, but then remembered there was no use arguing with her. Carefully he unwrapped her gift.

“Oh, wow, Jane Goodall,” Fitz remarked in honest excitement, turning the book around to read the text on the back.

“I wasn’t sure whether you had a biography yet,” Jemma said. “I kept the receipt just in case.”

Fitz looked up at her. “No, no. I mean my mum once gave me a book about her as a kid, but it was geared towards children, so, I’m sure this one goes into a lot more depth. Thank you. I love it.”

Jemma’s lips pulled into a wide smile. “Good. I’m so glad. Alright, now let’s see what you got me.”

Fitz grimaced in anticipation of his own gift. “It’s really not—”

“One gift certificate for a free phone upgrade from Fitz,” Jemma read aloud.

Fitz closed his eyes, his face contorting even more. Despite what he had told Jemma earlier, it wasn’t that he was bad at giving gifts in general. It was just that all the good ideas he had for her—that fancy telescope to go stargazing in style, that trip to New York to go to the book reading of her favorite author—went far beyond the “gifts from a friend” category and way into the realm of “gift from someone who’s madly in love with you.” And that was a line he was far too afraid to cross.

When he forced himself to look back at her, she was smiling widely. “Thank you, Fitz, that’s very thoughtful of you.”

“It’s just that you said your storage is almost full and slowing down your phone with your brother sending you all those pictures and videos of the babies,” Fitz tried to explain himself.

“That’s true,” Jemma ticked her head to one side. “Though I thought I would just take it to the store.”

Fitz gestured at himself. “If I do it, it’ll be free, plus, actually work.”

Jemma laughed out loud. “That’s definitely true. My laptop has been running without any hiccoughs since you upgraded it for my birthday. Again, it’s a very thoughtful and well appreciated gift.” She leaned closer to place a chaste peck to Fitz’s cheek, yet the innocent kiss was enough to make Fitz’s stomach churn.

“You’re welcome,” he replied shyly, trying to stop his face from blushing even more than it already had. “I could get started on it right away while we wait for the experiment to—do something.”

“It still baffles me that our simulations were so far off. But it’s also very fascinating. I’m quite curious to analyze the results once it finishes,” Jemma replied in her usual scientific, excited curiosity.

“Definitely.” The change in topic back to science allowed Fitz to find his composure again, “So, what do you say? Should I take a look at your phone right away?”

Jemma pursed her lips. “Why not?” Then she furrowed her brow. “But what should I do in the meantime besides stare at the experiment?”

“Umm—” Fitz hummed in thought.

“Oh, I know,” Jemma exclaimed, “I’ll read from the biography. That way I can enjoy it, too.”

Fitz shrugged. “Sure. That sounds nice.”

They worked side by side for a while like this, Fitz tinkering with Jemma’s phone, Jemma reading from the Jane Goodall biography, their experiment running in the background, until Fitz’s grumbling stomach disrupted the quiet. 

“Sorry,” Fitz apologized, “I guess I’m a bit peckish.”

Jemma sighed. “You know, I’m a bit hungry myself.”

“Do you want to go first to grab something?” Fitz offered.

Jemma slumped her shoulders. “Oh, but that would be so lonely. It’s Christmas Day after all.”

“But we can’t leave the experiment unsupervised,” Fitz argued, gesturing at the setup.

Jemma thought for a moment, before raising her index finger importantly. “Oh, maybe one of the security guards could stay with the experiment and call us should it complete.”

Fitz raised his eyebrows. “That could work.”

They called down to the security desk, and Mack happily agreed to watch the experiment in exchange for FitzSimmons bringing him and Davis back some Chinese food. They set off to the restaurant around the corner and enjoyed a quiet meal together, before heading back to the lab.

Fitz held the door open to let Jemma enter, but Mack’s booming voice caused both of them to stop in their tracks.

“Hold your horses,” the security guard exclaimed.

“What?” Fitz and Jemma said in unified confusion.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Mack pointed upward, causing Fitz and Jemma to look above their heads.

Jemma gasped audibly, while Fitz muttered a quiet, “What the—?” He looked at Mack in disbelief. “You hung up mistletoe?” he almost shouted.

Mack crossed his arms in front of his chest. “Yeah, well, I’ve been watching you two dance around each other for two years now, and enough is enough. Seems like you need a bit of nudging, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Plus, the thing was in her bag of decorations, so my guess is she’s been thinking about it, too.”

Fitz stood with his mouth ajar, his heart hammering in his chest as the security guard suggested that not only did Fitz have feelings for Jemma but she may even reciprocate. He looked at his best friend, who seemed fascinated with a spot on the floor in front of her, her cheeks noticeably reddened.

“You brought mistletoe?” he asked.

Jemma’s head barely lifted enough to look at him. “Well, it’s—I mean—it’s—it’s Christmas,” she stammered. “It’s a tradition, and I just—I just thought that maybe if the opportunity arose—I mean—”

“You wanted the opportunity to arise?” Fitz whispered, not daring to ask his question loudly.

“No,” Jemma exclaimed unconvincingly, shaking her head. “I mean, I didn’t think you would—I wouldn’t expect you to—It’s just that I—”

Fitz threw caution to the wind and lunged forward, cupping Jemma’s cheeks and pressing his lips against hers. He heard her surprised gasp, but after a moment of tension, her lips softened, melting against his. Fitz felt dizzy from the sensation, his stomach churning with butterflies and a wave of electric energy rushing through him.

He broke the kiss, looking into Jemma’s wide-open eyes, his lips ticking into a soft smile. “I would,” he whispered, “definitely.”

Jemma’s lips pulled wide as she leaned closer for another kiss, gentler and softer this time. They only broke apart when the computer on their workbench started to beep loudly.

“The experiment,” they both exclaimed, looking at their setup where Mack stood, still with his arms crossed in front of his chest, grinning ear to ear. “About damn time,” he remarked, though it was clear he wasn’t talking about the experiment. “Now wrap up, and go home to celebrate—Christmas or otherwise.”

Fitz and Jemma looked at each other, unable to keep from smiling. They intertwined their hands, sighing deeply, before turning to Mack.

“We will,” Jemma declared, before pulling Fitz towards their workbench to finish up their experiment—as quickly as possible.


End file.
